Iphone Air Vs. Samsung S25 Edge: I Compared Both Thin Phones, And There's A Clear Winner

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The marketplace of ultra-thin and lightweight phones is officially astatine its tipping point, arsenic Apple threw its chapeau into nan ringing this week pinch nan caller iPhone Air.

The newest and arguably astir innovative iPhone features nan company's slimmest creation yet, measuring astatine astir 5.6mm thin. How did nan folks astatine Cupertino execute specified a record? By opting for a smaller battery, less cameras, and immoderate creation elements that disrupt nan norm, particularly by iPhone standards. In different words, this is simply a wholly different beast.

Also: Apple Event unrecorded updates: Everything announced

Its closest competitor, nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, is different one. The S25 Edge follows a akin creation philosophy, serving users a burdenless hardware acquisition pinch immoderate questionable omissions. Between nan 2 phones, which 1 should you buy? That's what I'm present to answer.

Specifications

You should bargain nan iPhone Air if...

Apple/ZDNET

1. You want nan little risky bladed phone

What do I mean by that? For starters, nan iPhone Air starts astatine $999, undercutting nan S25 Edge by $100, truthful it's already an finance that should beryllium easier to manage. That money gets you 256GB of soul retention (the aforesaid arsenic nan Samsung), Apple's repubtable package update argumentation that keeps nan telephone feature-relevant for years down nan road, and an iOS experience that has proven reliable for app support and fluidity.

Also: Apple iPhone 17 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro: Here are nan main differences

It goes without saying that if you're a existent iPhone user, nan iPhone Air will beryllium nan amended prime of nan two, pinch benefits for illustration easier information transportation (including those pesky contacts that ne'er prevention properly) and entree to a acquainted suite of iOS apps for illustration iMessage and FaceTime.

Apple's unit beingness is besides overmuch stronger than Samsung's, pinch aggregate stores centralized crossed celebrated cities successful nan U.S. (and outside) for smoother servicing.

2. You're often outdoors (and want nan champion view)

Apple says nan iPhone Air tin scope a highest brightness of 3,000 nits, beating nan S25 Edge's 2,600-nit rating. That simply intends nan iPhone will look brighter erstwhile outdoors aliases nether aggravated lighting, making nan instrumentality easier to read, browse, and navigate.

Also: Every iPhone 17 exemplary compared: Should you bargain nan guidelines model, Air, Pro, aliases Max?

As acold arsenic different show specs go, nan iPhone Air competes squarely pinch nan S25 Edge, from nan 120Hz show to nan durability of nan solid layering. You tin besides reason that nan iPhone's smaller 6.5-inch surface size makes it easier to wield and run pinch 1 manus compared to nan S25 Edge's 6.7-inch screen.

You should bargain nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge if...

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

1. You want a much elastic camera system

While some manufacturers had constricted shape factors to build cameras around, Samsung offers much imaginative state pinch nan S25 Edge. That starts pinch nan 200MP main sensor (compared to nan iPhone Air's 48MP), which enables high-resolution images erstwhile cropped aliases captured successful RAW. 

Then you facet successful nan further 12MP ultrawide sensor that stretches nan width of nan shots you tin take. I expect Apple to heavy marketplace nan iPhone Air's "Fusion Camera," but spot maine erstwhile I opportunity that nary artificial modifications will ever hit pure, beingness optics.

2. You want a much feature-packed phone

Android phones person ever been much functional than iPhones, and that holds existent for nan S25 Edge. Compared to nan iPhone Air, nan Samsung handset features a much expansive AI toolkit, backed by some Galaxy AI and Google's Gemini services. That includes browsing devices for illustration Circle to Search, a much extended image editing suite, system-wide translator capabilities, and more.

The S25 Edge besides supports beingness SIM cards, while nan iPhone Air is eSIM only, nary matter which region you acquisition nan handset from. This whitethorn beryllium a woody breaker for predominant travelers who require nan usage of section SIM cards aliases customers who simply don't want to digitize their SIM cards.

Also: Finally, a Samsung telephone that I'd put my S25 Ultra distant for (especially astatine this price)

For audio-listeners, nan S25 Edge packs a stereo speaker strategy versus nan iPhone's mono audio channel. It'll beryllium very difficult for nan iPhone to output a louder and richer sound than nan Galaxy, moreover if Apple embeds immoderate surface vibration exertion to thief amplify nan audio.

Lastly, nan S25 Edge has a larger 3,900mAh artillery compared to nan iPhone Air's estimated 2,800mAh capacity. Still, those numbers don't show nan afloat endurance story, truthful we'll person to trial nan iPhone to spot precisely really optimized nan instrumentality is.

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